Roman Road

Žužemberk is a small town on the Krka River in Suha Krajina, the dry, hilly country of Lower Carniola in southeastern Slovenia, and the Roman Road is a short heritage walk that links its main historic places. The name looks back to the time when the Romans ruled the region. Roman engineers built roads across Lower Carniola to join the military and trading centres of the province: Emona, which is today Ljubljana, the settlement of Neviodunum near modern Krško, and Siscia on the Sava. Traces of such routes survive in many places as sunken lanes, field boundaries and old alignments, and local tradition associates this path with the long history of travel and trade through the Krka valley.

The walk gives a feeling of how the town developed. Žužemberk grew beneath its castle, which stands on a rock above the river and was long held by the Auersperg family, one of the great noble houses of Carniola. Craftsmen and traders settled in the shelter of the castle, and the river provided power for mills and for ironworks, whose traces can still be found in the town and its surroundings. Iron-making was an important industry in parts of Lower Carniola in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the memory of the foundry gives the town an industrial chapter alongside its medieval one.

Along the route there are several stops. The castle looks down on the roofs and the Krka, and its walls and towers are the most striking sight. The parish church has been rebuilt after wartime damage, which says something about the town's past, since Žužemberk suffered during the Second World War and parts of it had to be built again. A small memorial park holds bronze reliefs and inscriptions that honour local figures, among them the knight Andrej Turjaški of the Auersperg family, remembered for his part in the Battle of Sisak in 1593, a famous victory over the Ottomans in which many nobles from Carniola took part. The park is a quiet place to sit and reflect.

The walk takes under an hour at a relaxed pace, and it is suited to most visitors, including families and older walkers. It can be extended along the Krka, where paths run beside the river and the valley is lined with wooded slopes, and the river offers fishing, canoeing and swimming in summer. A stop at one of the town's cafes completes the outing.

The route suits history lovers, walkers and anyone exploring the Krka valley between Novo mesto and Ljubljana. Information boards along the way explain the sights, but it is wise to ask at the local tourist information office for a map and current details before setting out.